Service academies are always a tough draw in bowl games. Dating back to the 2013-14 bowl season, Air Force, Army and Navy are collectively 12-2 ATS. Army is 3-1 SU and ATS in that span, with the lone non-cover in 2016 against North Texas, which was Jeff Monken’s first season at West Point.

Monken and the Black Knights draw a pretty good matchup in Wednesday’s Armed Forces Bowl against a Missouri team that ranked 119th in yards per carry allowed during the regular season. The Tigers obviously play a much more difficult schedule than Army, but narrowly snuck into the bowl season with a 6-6 record, barely beating South Carolina and Florida at home to secure eligibility.

Army’s bowl wins under Monken have all come against Group of Five teams. The lone loss was last year’s Liberty Bowl against West Virginia. From an athleticism standpoint, this is a step up for the Black Knights, but the great equalizer is always going to be about how focused and prepared the other team is to defend the triple-option offense.

All of the focus for Mizzou leading up to this game has been about the recruiting class Eli Drinkwitz brought in. Maybe there is some extra-added excitement surrounding the program, but the focus is less about this game and more about the future. Star running back Tyler Badie, who accounted for 1,604 of the team’s 2,147 rushing yards, won’t play. The Tigers just don’t seem invested in this game.

A win here for Army won’t ease the sting of losing to Navy, but a win over a SEC program would be a monumental step for the program. The Black Knights should get it.

Pick: Army, -5.5.

Thoughts on tanking

Tanking is a buzzworthy topic across all pro sports. It creates content and can lead to heated discussions, which most major media platforms will welcome with open arms. Personally, I think the notion that teams are tanking is overblown. Some teams are just downright bad. They don’t have quality personnel and are at a disadvantage every time the ball is snapped. That isn’t tanking.

These are professional athletes that are looking for their next contracts and every play can go under the microscope. There is no incentive on an individual player level to tank. An organization may make some suspect decisions or a coach may surrender and punt the ball away, but the players themselves are usually not going to be blatantly giving up.

I think it is scary to assume that a team just won’t show up. If a player doesn’t play with a high level of focus in the NFL, he’s going to be at greater risk of getting himself or a teammate hurt. Bad apples are still going to be out there, but there are 11 guys on the field and one guy here or there may not be enough to dictate the outcome of the game.

It is my belief that the only time we see outright tanking is when a team quits on a coach. In the current landscape of the NFL, now that Urban Meyer has been fired, I don’t see that happening. Handicap the games for what they are. Don’t just assume a team won’t show up because of an ugly record or a big spread. Teams with nothing to lose can sometimes be the most dangerous, especially in the face of inflated lines or additional pressure on the favorite.

Tanking could be more of a factor in the other sports where games aren’t played once a week and there are more chances to not show up, but even then, a lot of it simply has to do with a team not having the talent to compete night in and night out. As far as the NFL goes, I wouldn’t use it as justification for a wager.